The road to 2023 appears to be rough for the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) as its legal field operations committee from the Northwest disclosed that no fewer than 30 cases have been instituted against the party at the end of the various primary elections held in the zone.
This was disclosed by the national legal adviser of APC, Ahmed Usman El-Marzuq, while addressing newsmen after a maiden visit to Kaduna. He also assured that the cases will not affect the party in next year’s general elections.
He said the committee will carry out a similar visit to the remaining five political zones across the country to address any legal issues within the party.
“Today the zonal Legal field operations committee met in Kaduna. In attendance were legal advisers from Kano, Kebbi, Kaduna, Sokoto, as well as legal advisers from the National headquarters,” El-Marzuq said.
According to him, the purpose of the meeting was to address legal issues that have emanated from the primary elections during the state Assemblies, Governorship, House of Representatives, Senate and Presidential elections.
“During such exercises, issues of complaints and petitions are usually received. The law has provided remedies for such complaints to be pursued in the various courts in the land.”
El- Marzuq noted that, at this stage, other parties as well as aggrieved party members will employ legal representation, hence, the meeting was intended to strategize ahead of the 2023 elections.
The legal adviser explained that, the maiden meeting availed them the opportunity to know the number of cases filed in the various courts, saying, they have so far recorded 30 cases in the Northwest zone.
Highlighting on the cases, he said some are coming from even the opposition parties, but was quick to add that, the cases will not affect the fortunes of the party in next year’s general elections.
Monrovia — The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) office in Liberia, celebrating population day, has projected that the world population could reach eight billion people in November.
This year’s population day falls under the theme: A World of 8 billion: Towards a resilient for all – Harnessing Opportunities and Ensuring Rights and Choices for All.
Giving the overview, the UNFPA Country Representative to Liberia, Ms. Bidisha Pillai, said the eight billion people would attract much attention and debate and most likely scaremongering over too many people.
Ms. Pillai revealed that focusing only on the population number and growth rates can often lead to coercive and count-productive measures and the eroding of human rights.
Ms. Pillai recognized that the acts of preventing women from making decisions over their reproductive rights are capable of eroding progress made.
Said Ms. Pillai, “For example, to women being pressured to have more children or prevented from so. If it can deepen already acute inequalities, such as through policies shutting down reproductive health care or denying adequate pensions for the elderly, further the marginalizing the most disenfranchised.”
Ms. Pillai explained that UNFPA’s mandate is to work with stakeholders to collectively champion the right toward ending preventable maternity deaths, ending the unmet needs for family planning, and ending gender-based violence and harmful practices.
She said that as Liberia approaches the 2022 national population and housing census, there are need to keep adequate records which would help track the present size of the population and help give the spatial distribution location among counties and districts.
Accordingly, she said this would enable segmental statistical analysis of the different sectors, ranging from health, education, marriage, and teenage pregnancy, among others that will help people make informed choices and decisions.
“But implementing this mandate, we really believe that there is a need for strong, credible data and evidence so that are our efforts are better informed on this journey, she said.
“Achieving this democratic resilient is tasked with the commitment of counting not just the numbers or statistics but also looking at measuring the opportunities and barriers that stand the way of progression”, She said.
Adding, “This means that, we have to look at discriminating laws, traditional believes and practices which might give us the chance to progress or might stand in the way.”
Making a special statement, Deputy Minister for Research and Planning at the Ministry of Health, A. Vaifee Tulay said, as the world reaches eight billion, it is a moment for reflection and time for countries to take stock and drop action no matter the direction.
Minister Tulay said that as the world anticipates eight billion, people could be reminded that the value of humanity is not divided, stating that every person should benefit from a just and prosperous world.
Minister Tulay explained that as Liberia approaches national elections in 2023, there is need to have updated data of the country.
“As we enter the age of eight billion, Liberia needs to flow with new dispensation. The 2022 census is therefore not about counting people but will also provide data for planning and empowering people.”
“We need to know the number that measure our progress. That is while Liberia needs to keep on track with its ongoing process for the conduct of the national population and housing census in October.”
Making a brief remark, the British Ambassador to Liberia, Neil Bradley said how countries manage the demographic change will determine their prospects.
Amb Bradley, however, said that rapid rise in populations risk resources stress, mass unemployment and civil unrest.
According to him, Sub-Saharan population is growing at unprecedented rate due to improve health outcomes and persistent fertility rates.
Said Amb Bradley, “But with the necessary political will and policies. Sub-Saharan can undergo a successful demographic transition and evolution from high to low mortality and fertility rates, with associated changes in age and structure.”
“Counties that are able to exploit the potential of increasing their working population will be better positioned to drive growth and sustainable development more quickly, and reap the rewards of the demographic dividend.”
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Also marking a remark, U.S Agency for International Development (USAID) Mission Director, Jim Wright said as the world celebrates World Population Day, people should be reminded of the need to focus on and find solution to the many problems that are caused or exacerbated by increased population growth.
Said Mr. Wright, “Many people need more resources to survive. Consumption of more resources means more stress on the environment, more deforestation, and more biodiversity loss, with potentially negative consequences for the effort to combat climate change.”
According to him, USAID has made significant investments in women and girls to family planning, promoting gender equality and quality maternal health care which have enabled families to plan and better care for future generations.
“With support from community health workers and local health clinics, young people can avoid unintended pregnancies, as well as unwanted diseases, allowing them to stay in schools, enter the workforce and gain more economic opportunities, Amb Wright said.
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Egypt’s Men handball national team have reached the 2023 World Championship and the semi-finals of the 2022 African Championship following an easy victory over Algeria.
The 2022 and 2024 African Men’s Handball Championships were originally planned to take place in Morocco and Algeria, but CAHB made the decision to ban both countries from organizing the prestigious tournament due to a lack of sportsmanship.
Following the ban, the two competitions were moved to Egypt, with the 2022 edition starting from July 11 until July 18 in the 6th of October City.
Egypt were placed in group A alongside Morocco and Cameroon, and following two easy wins, the Pharaohs qualified for the quarter-finals alongside their North African neighbors.
In the quarter-finals, Egypt found itself against another North African country, this time Algeria, with the game taking place on Friday night.
The Pharaohs had no problems at all against the seven-time African champions, ending the first-half 20-8 ahead, before continuing their dominance in the second-half, winning the tie 34-19.
The win have secured Egypt a place in the 2023 World Men’s Handball Championship in Poland and Sweden as well as a spot in the semi-finals against Tunisia.
The Eagles of Carthage had won Group C ahead of Cape Verde and Nigeria, before coming up against DR Congo in the quarter-finals, the game which they 40-34 after overtime.
Tunisia have won the competition on 10 different occasions and have reached the final of the last 10 editions, losing the 2020 final to Egypt in Radès.
Meanwhile, Morocco and Cape Verde overcame Guinea and Angola respectively and will face each other in the second tie of the semi-finals.
Both the semi-finals games will take place on Saturday, July 16 at the Hassan Moustafa Sports Hall, the 6th of October.
The diplomatic mission has advised US citizens, who are still in the country, to avoid “large gatherings and organized events”
Citing a “highly volatile” security situation, the US embassy in Kiev has urged Americans not to visit Ukraine, and those already there to leave immediately.
In a security alert published on Thursday on the embassy’s website, US citizens who are still in Ukraine have been strongly advised against attending large public gatherings.
It emphasized that the “security situation throughout Ukraine continues to be violent and unpredictable,” claiming that “large gatherings and organized events” may “serve as Russian military targets” anywhere in the country.
The alert warned that US citizens in Ukraine should not “rely on US government assistance” but instead act according to their own “contingency plan,” which has to be developed in advance.
Commenting on the US embassy’s alert on Telegram on Thursday, Russian Foreign Ministry’s spokeswoman Maria Zakharova wrote that the diplomats omitted to mention “that Washington is supplying the Kiev regime with US weapons which is provoking the continuation of the conflict and people’s deaths.”
The US warning was published hours after a deadly explosion hit the city of Vinnitsa in central Ukraine on Thursday. According to Kiev, the attack claimed the lives of 22 civilians, including three children, and injured scores more.
The Russian military, in a statement issued on Friday, confirmed launching a missile attack at a target in Vinnitsa, but denied it was a deliberate strike against civilians. The Defense Ministry said it had attacked Ukrainian senior military commanders while they were negotiating with foreign arms suppliers at the local House of Officers building.
All participants are said to have been killed as a result of the strike. According to the ministry, the discussions centered on the “transfer of more warplanes and weapons systems, as well as the repair of the Ukrainian military air fleet.”
Both Kiev and Moscow have repeatedly accused each other of hitting civilian targets, while insisting that their respective forces are only striking military objects, hardware and personnel.
Russia sent troops into Ukraine on February 24, citing Kiev’s failure to implement the Minsk agreements, designed to give the regions of Donetsk and Lugansk special status within the Ukrainian state. The protocols, brokered by Germany and France, were first signed in 2014. Former Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has since admitted that Kiev’s main goal was to use the ceasefire to buy time and “create powerful armed forces.”
In February 2022, the Kremlin recognized the Donbass republics as independent states and demanded that Ukraine officially declare itself a neutral country that will never join any Western military bloc. Kiev insists the Russian offensive was completely unprovoked.
UK Foreign and Commonwealth Development Office (FCDO) and experts in the Nigerian tech space have called for the implementation of policies to improve digital literacy and reduce the digital skill gap in the country.
The experts spoke at the ‘Inclusive Digital Transformation Programme’ in Lagos to advance inclusive digital development through an enhanced policy and regulatory framework for the Nigerian economy.
The event was attended by members of the public sector MDAs, ICT professional bodies, digital inclusion start-ups, and corporate players in the digital space.
Guy Harrison, the economic counselor to the deputy high commissioner in Lagos, said the aim of the event is to create a sense of support and partnership between the public and private to create a framework that can provide the right regulations and provide safeguards that encourage the private sectors to contribute more to the Nigerian economy.
Harrison noted that Nigeria has the potential to experience rapid growth in its Gross Domestic Product (GDP) through human capital development in the area of information technology and bridging the digital literacy gap.
He said a review of existing digital frameworks can accelerate partnership opportunities between companies in Nigeria and the UK.
“We have already taken a group of Nigeria companies to the UK by April from a matchmaking mission,” Harrison said. “We very much hope this will create a virtual circle of good governance, good regulations and framework that is great for Nigerians and businesses.”
Faisal Naru, Executive Director at Policy Innovation Centre (PIC) said the policies being implemented by the government have to be right for there to be a good and enabling environment for people and businesses to thrive.
“It’s important to have this kind of dialogue to make sure that the right policies are in place and that things are working right for businesses,” Naru said.
“I expect in this conversation for us, first of all, to get different actors to start talking together, who maybe have not been speaking before at the federal level, state level, private sectors, donors funders, investor, banks. It’s important for them to speak together to understand what each other is going through and then co-create solutions that will actually work for people in Nigeria and for the better of the Nigerian economy.”
Idongesit Udoh, Head, UK Digital Access Programme, noted that millions of people in rural communities are left behind in the broadband connectivity, adding that efforts have to be intensified to reach such people.
Udoh said the UK access programme is working to help about 60% of Nigerians without digital skills to acquire one to function in the digital economy.
He said the UK is partnering with key stakeholders to build digital skills capacity for women and girls, people living with disabilities, and those without basic digital skills.
Brazil’s far-right President Jair Bolsonaro and leftist rival Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva have both taken to wearing bullet-proof vests to campaign rallies ahead of the October elections, with the candidates’ security a major concern in an atmosphere of deep political polarization.
The assassination last Friday of Japan’s ex-prime minister Shinzo Abe at an election campaign rally sparked a flurry of concern on social media in Brazil that conditions at home were ripe for a similar crime.
Then on Sunday, a Lula partisan was shot dead at a political party event by a policeman shouting pro-Bolsonaro slogans.
Lula blamed the death on “hate speech encouraged by an irresponsible president,” while Bolsonaro retorted that violent people should join “the left, which has an undeniable past of violent episodes.”
The president himself was stabbed in the abdomen during his previous presidential campaign in 2018, by a man later declared mentally unfit to stand trial.
“Political violence in Brazil has a long history,” political analyst Oliver Stuenkel of the Getulio Vargas Foundation in Sao Paolo told AFP.
“It has mostly been limited to the municipal level, (but) we now see, in part due to the radical, extreme polarization, that it is reaching the federal level” of politics.
Historically, dozens of candidates get shot with every municipal election in Brazil.
Bolsonaro is trailing behind Lula in opinion polls ahead of the first round of presidential elections on October 2.
There will be a runoff on October 30 if no candidate gets 50 percent of first-round votes.
‘Clearly worried’ Bolsonaro, 67, has had his presidential protection upgraded, but does not avoid crowds on the campaign trail.
Lula, 76, has employed a team of private security guards to reinforce the team of 35 police that political commentator Lauro Jardim told CBN radio already take care of him.
The former president has taken a more cautious stance with his public engagements.
From the official opening of the campaign on August 16, he and all other rival candidates to Bolsonaro will have access to a pool of some 300 federal police members dedicated to election protection.
This “unprecedented” deployment, according to the federal police, could be increased as the risk calculus changes.
Lula and Bolsonaro, leading the rest of the candidate pack, “can both be targeted by extremist individuals, so it is good to see them taking their safety more seriously,” said Silvio Cascione, Brazil director for the Eurasia Group consultancy.
“Lula’s staff is clearly worried about the risk… Lula will prioritize indoor events with strict security protocols” with open-air events “much less frequent than in previous campaigns,” he added.
Last week, at a Lula campaign event on a massive public square in Rio de Janeiro, a man hurled a small explosive device into the crowd.
No one was hurt, but the attack sparked concern as it happened despite restricted access to the event and the use of metal detectors to screen attendees.
‘Violent language’ According to the University of Rio de Janeiro’s Observatory of Political and Electoral Violence, 214 cases of violence ranging from threats to murders have been recorded against politicians since January this year.
About 40 were homicides — many of the victims candidates or ex-candidates for mayoral office or municipal councils.
The total represented a rise of 32 percent over the first half of 2020 when the country held municipal elections.
Observers say the political climate in Brazil has become deeply polarized since Bolsonaro took office in 2019.
The left and right have both accused each other of inflaming violence.
Stuenkel points to the use of “violent language, especially in pro-Bolsonaro groups, or by the candidate himself.”
Bolsonaro has repeatedly sought to cast doubt on the credibility of the election system, and there are fears he may reject the outcome if he loses and even foments violence similar to what happened in the United States.
“They are trying to transform the campaign into a war, to instil fear in Brazilian society,” Lula charged on Tuesday.
Experts have also pointed with concern to an explosion of 474 percent of private firearm ownership under the Bolsonaro government.
Despite the growing nervousness, observers doubt the candidates will significantly limit their public outreach.
“It is tremendously important (to them) to promote a narrative of broad, popular support for their candidacy,” said Stuenkel.
